You sure got some cool stuff there Ron. Do you give guided tours? American Pickers' Mike Wolfe would love one I bet.
"Space Patrol" was an early Sci-Fi program, first on Radio in 1953 and later on broadcast television. It's pretty bad, so it's fun. Sponsored by Ralston Wheat Chex/Rice Chex, they had all sorts of swag you could send away for. Hey gang! Space Patrol Binoculars! and Walkie Talkies!. Space Patrollers - 25c in coin, and a lid from a can of Nestle's Quick. Send to Box 686, St. Louis, Missouri. Hurry! This offer won't last!
Ron, thanks for starting this, I enjoy seeing so many vintage space toys and memorabilia that everyone posted, brings back many memories of many long gone toys. I really thought by now we all be in flying cars, zipping around like we saw in so many visions of the future, electric cars just aren't appealing, maybe if they could fly. Thanks again.
Thanks, echo Ed same here, the future looked like so much FUN back then. I couldn't wait until the year 2,000! Just a bump to see some more back to the future.
In 1953 the popular radio show Space Patrol through Ralston (Wheat Chex and Rice Chex) had a contest called "Name That Planet", the Grand Prize was a 40 foot replica rocket clubhouse of Commander Correy's battle cruiser, plus $1,500 cash. 10 year old Ricky Walker of 305 Wagner, Washington, Illinois won.
^^^ WOW-WOW- WOW^^^I want that!!! One of the Coolest things I seen on this thread. I would have went nuts to have won that as a kid. My dad still lives in the same house that he built in 1952. I was born one week before we moved into it. So I kept most of my toys in his attic, and kept collecting stuff that I thought was cool ever since. I've ALWAYS Loved Hot Rods, and vintage space stuff. I'm sure that if I had won that. I would probably still have it. First I'm very sentimental. It would have been the COOLEST clubhouse as a kid. Then could have made a very cool camper. Lots of great workmanship, and I would think it would have always been valuable. I wonder what ever happened to it? That was one Lucky Kid!!!
Yeah, I didn't want to bring that part up. But you asked. I wondered too, which is why I looked it up. I kept hearing the "Name That Planet" contest on the old radio program, and I knew it must have been a HUGE deal back in the day. I also figured the World Wide Web would have a web page dedicated to this. I was not wrong. Supposedly (he also declined any interview in a followup piece about the contest years later) if the other neighborhood kids can be believed, he was a bit of a douche about the whole thing. They said he hardly ever played in it, and kept it to himself. Then, his parents sold it for $1000 to a traveling carnival or somesuch, and eventually it rusted away and was sold for scrap in the 1990s. It would have been a problem for most people in Suburbia, for a lot of reasons.
Yeah, I don't know how true some of the lore is, like most things there is more than one side to a story but it is pretty much known for a fact his parents sold it off eventually. I can see where something like that would be a problem in that the typical home size in suburbia wasn't very big and yards were tiny postage stamp size in many areas. That thing takes up some real estate. Good problem to have I suppose, my parents had a double lot on a corner, with a pretty good size back yard. It would have been perfect!
A Bump. An old bubble top model that I built years ago. I can't remember it's name? But I hoped I be driving something like it in the future. What ya got that's from back in your future?
Yup. If we'd have gotten those flying cars the 1950's promised us, they would be antique cars by now.
I know, seriously...I do dictation on my watch while I'm driving and I can call people as well. Take that Dick Tracy and Maxwell Smart!
The Jalopy Journal
